How much should I expect to pay for DC at uni?

[AuntieEstablishment]

My DC has been working for a few years and is thinking about going to uni. I want to support them as much as I can. I am on a good wage- self-employed but usually around 70k a year- but have no other support at all. I am solely responsible for all my children's cost.

I know that DC will have to take out a loan of some sort, and is hoping to work part time. But how much does having a kid at uni cost you, generally speaking? Do you pay them a set amount each month? Or a set amount, plus a certain amount each year for the fees?

Thanks in advance.

It depends an awful lot on where they study as rent (unless they live with you) is the largest cost they will have.

If they've worked for a few years your DC may well be classed as independent students (depends if you have financially supported them during this time) and would entitled to a full maintenance loan which is around £10000 if living away from home, outside of London.

We are paying DD's rent. But she is only eligible for the minimum loan.

In our case, DD2 only qualifies for the minimum maintenance loan (I think it's around £4,500 per year?), so that's what she lives on, plus earnings from her pub job. Meanwhile, we pay her rent (between £5,000 and £7,000 per year - obviously can be more if in London, and a lot less if living at home). I pay her landlord monthly.

Thanks so much for that redskydarknight. DC wouldn't qualify as an independent student- they've worked for a year, and may take another year out to work, but that still doesn't meet the threshold.
Can I ask, is your DD working part time?
I'm very aware that I'm financially extremely cautious (had a couple of years living in poverty when DC was younger, which has turned me into a bit of a miser at times and makes me want to save money instead of relaxing a bit) but I want to support DC as much as I can. Knowing what's normal really helps!

Thanks for this. I am showing my lack of knowledge here, but what about the tuition fee? Is that covered with a different loan?

Tuition is separate, everyone gets that

Thanks so much, you've helped a lot!

Yes, I haven't included tuition fees. This part of the loan is available to all, but goes straight to the university - we never see it.

DS has been at university in London. We give him £75 a week for food and £800 a month for rent. He gets the minimum maintenance loan. He's spending 6 months in USA next year, I have no idea what that's going to cost.

@StiggyZardust DD1 spent a year studying at a US university, and oddly enough it was no more expensive than being here. Accommodation was marginally cheaper, tuition fees were only about £1,500 for the year, and she also got a bursary to top up her maintenance loan. A few additional costs, though (flights/insurance/visa) and food was pricy.

Thank you! That's reassuring, he's waiting for the correct document to arrive and then he can apply for his visa.

We give DC £1000 a month each. They take out the loan for tuition fees and get the minimum maintenance loan. Rent is so expensive now (£950 a month - not London), that we cover the rent and they cover living costs with the loan and working.

@AuntieEstablishment Where might the uni be? London is expensive. Plus most students would not get by in London on .£75 a week. Transport costs alone would eat into that very quickly. Going out costs not factored in either.

Look at Money Saving Expert for details on student living finance. He can take a loan for tuition fees from Student Finance and the Government web site has details of finance for students and how it works.

The loans for maintenance will be based on your income. You need to top up a minimum loan to cover his rent and living costs. You can make up the difference to £10,000 and this would work for most students. If that’s not possible, talk to him about part time work but not all courses allow time for this, You should also discuss where is best for his course and living costs in various uni cities and towns.

@Lordofmyflies So you give £12,000 a year plus min maintenance loan of £4,500. That’s a lot! Plus work money! The rent is very high for not being in London. You can get cheaper than that even in very expensive areas like Bristol. Your DS has expensive taste. He must be rolling in it compared to most students.

Rent paid. £200 to live on. If they want more they can work. It's going fine

£200 per month that is!

That's ridiculous

But I suppose it is mumsnet

Listen to Martin Lewis on Radio 4 talking about student finance and how to fund university
www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0fz54f9?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile

When my DD was at uni we paid her rent - a term upfront direct to the landlord, and gave her £200 a month to supplement her student loan. She only got the basic loan due to my salary being over the threshold. This was 10 years ago. She also worked during term time and most of the holidays to supplement her loan.

The basic level 'expected' of you is the difference between the maintenance loan they could get if you were a low earner and the loan they can actually get with your income.

So if the max maintenance loan is (say) £10500 a year and they can only borrow £4,500 given your income, you are expected to cough up the missing £6000.

The easy to follow advice is £4,500
min loan made up to £10,000. So find £5,500 minimum. £200 is very low. We gave double that 14 years sho but it wholly depends what dc needs. So consider phone, computer, sports and club fees, clothes, transport, trips home, holidays, laundry, entertainment and food. Plus bills when they are not in a hall, £50 a week is very low and not enough if dc on min loan.

DS only gets minimum loan. He had some savings from part-time work etc before he went to university. First year he didn’t have any top ups from us (apart from phone bill and the occasional food shop). We offered but he wanted to be self sufficient.

Now coming up to second year and has pretty much worked all summer break. He has moved into private accommodation which is cheaper than halls but has additional expenditure eg car, so we expect to have to top up a bit, but not huge amount. He is at a university with low accommodation costs though

Both mine went at the same time for 4 year courses, and have graduated this summer. They got just above minimum maintenance loan so around £4800 pa. We paid their rent. (They lived in areas where accommodation costs were very different, so it seemed fair to all) They lived off the loan.

One spent the lot... going out, living life to the full, lots of travelling. The other has £7k in the bank.

Dd gets the minimum maintenance loan and lives off that, we pay the rent. It’s about a grand a month with bills, she’s in Bristol. Accommodation is horribly expensive there, it might be possible to find cheaper but we haven’t been able to secure any!